Mirrors
by Angelina Johnson
Summary: In a fight for good and evil, what will the future hold for those affected?
1. Fire In The Sky

Mirrors Chapter 1 Fire In The Sky  
By Angelina Johnson  
BlewGoo2@aol.com  
Angst/Dark Fic  
Descendants of Harry and Co.  
PoA  
PG  
Summary- In a fight for good and evil, someone must lose. What will the future hold for those affected?  
Disclaimer: This story is based on characters and situations created and owned by JK Rowling, various publishers including but not limited to Bloomsbury Books, Scholastic Books and Raincoast Books, and Warner Bros., Inc. No money is being made and no copyright or trademark infringement is intended.  
  
  
"One day, Mary Graham, you will be a beautiful princess!" Mary Graham Lupin, the small little baby girl, giggled as her mother swung her around in the air.   
"You will live in a magnificent castle, far, far away........ Away from danger, away from all harm, away from You-Know-Who....."  
Mary Graham's continuous giggles ceased, and Olivia's smile faded. It was as though the two year old was able to sense Olivia's fears, and she felt horrible just mentioning him, but she felt triply awful mentioning him to her baby daughter. She hated the thought, but she knew that she could not avoid the subject forever,because Lord Voldemort was her biggest fear. Olivia Lupin and her husband Zachary had much to fear of Lord Voldemort.  
"Why don't you just say it? Voldemort. See? It's not hard," Gemma Black said.   
"Gemma, you're a Squib," Olivia said softly, then added, "No offense. But honestly, he has no point in killing you."   
"I'm a Black. That's reason enough for that monster. He's out to conquer the world, Olivia, and you know that no one is safe, not even Muggles."  
"I wish that he hadn't survived. I wish that that monster would just leave everyone alone."  
"Unfortunately, that's not going to happen anytime soon, and you know it as well as I do, Olivia. We're in danger, and the world may very well come to an end at his will."  
"I'm frightened, but not just for myself. I'm scared for Zach, and even more, I'm scared for Mary Graham. I'd give her the world if I could, but I can't, and I have no chance of saving her if Voldemort sets out to kill her."  
"You said it, Olivia. You said Voldemort."  
"I suppose I did, didn't I, Gemma? I guess you're right, it's not so terribly bad, but I get this weird feeling whenever it's said. It's like if you say his name you're somehow summoning him to you, and I don't like that feeling."  
"If that's how you feel, then I'll try to respect that and not say it. But Olivia, you can't avoid the name forever, and you most certainly can not avoid him forever. He'll come to haunt you, Olivia. And it's not just you, either. It's all of us, pretty much. Quinn, Claire, and Holly, you, Zach, and Mary Graham, and not to mention the Potter's. If we're in danger, think about them, those who brought about his original down fall."  
"It did us no good, he's still a major threat two hundred years later."  
"It's awful, isn't it? He's made himself so inhuman that he seems almost immortal."  
"He's not as horrifying as he was two hundred years ago. I'd hate to be Lily Potter that Halloween night when she was murdered- the thought makes me shudder. He's a monster, and he could very well destroy the world as we know it. I don't want that to happen."  
Olivia's fear of the Dark Lord was not uncommon; many of the greatest witches and wizards ever feared the name so much they called him You-Know-Who. Zach Lupin was not among them.  
Zach was Remus Lupin's great-great-grandson, and obviously had gotten his bravery from there. Remus had to have been brave; he not only was a werewolf but lived in Voldemort's time of greatest power, and he and his best friends had been a great threat to Voldemort.  
Zach's best friends were Quinn Black and John Potter. The threesome had followed the path of the great threesome before them, James Potter, Sirius Black, and Remus Lupin, the great mischief makers of their day. Remus, the werewolf, had given the other two reason to become unregistered Animagi, and their craziness only grew from there. They had pulled pranks and landed themselves in detention every other night by tossing Dungbombs and Fireworks about the magical school they had attended, Hogwarts. They were some of the most loyal people ever to be on the side that was opposed to Voldemort. Voldemort had the advantage over them, though, because their supposed friend, Peter Pettigrew, had been a servant to the Dark Lord himself. Peter Pettigrew had handed Lily and James Potter to Lord Voldemort, and he had made Sirius Black appear the guilty one. Sirius was sent to Azkaban, the most horrible wizard prison ever, but he escaped because he was an Animagus, and had snuck by the Dementor's when they opened his cell to feed him. Sirius had been an innocent man, but had been given a Dementor's Kiss anyway. However, Sirius had been on the run long enough to give birth to a son, and the Black family line had continued for 200 years since then. Claire and Holly would not be the last of the Black's, however, for Gemma was pregnant with a son.  
Though Voldemort had affected their ancestors in many ways, he had not yet made any attempts to hurt the present day Lupin's, Potter's, and Black's, and Olivia was hoping, praying, that maybe, just maybe, the attack wouldn't come.  
The first one came three days later.  
It was a dark and stormy night, flashes of lighting and claps of thunder coming frequently during the storm. The small two year olds, Claire Black and Mary Graham Lupin, sat in a small corner of the Lupin house, away from windows. The eight year old Will Hellerton, Claire's half brother, was attempting to frighten five year old Holly Black, and sixteen year old Becky Hellerton was telling Will off.  
Olivia and Gemma were sitting together, waiting for any word from their husbands. They were frightened, becuase often dark and stormy nights were the ones when Voldemort struck. How right they were, that awful night.  
Meanwhile, six miles away at the Black residence, there was a sharp knock at the door. Zachary Lupin, who had excused himself and was now in the bathroom, looking for Muggle aspirin for his headache, heard the knock come again. And again. He wondered why on earth Quinn wasn't answering the door; the knocking was making his headache worse.  
As for Quinn, he was ignoring the door, wanting only to fall asleep and let the storm end so that he could get back to his wife. He wasn't up to Apparating at the moment, and was planning on going the Muggle way.  
But the knocking persisted, until the person at the door lost his patience. He heard the door crack, and a moment later a sound erupted that sounded like it was being thrown against the wall.  
Quinn jumped to his feet.  
"Hey! You're gonna have to pay for that!" Quinn yelled at the intruder.   
"I will, will I?" came a high, cruel voice. Quinn gasped, seeing the face of Lord Voldemort. So the time had come.  
"Serve me, Quinn, you would be of great use."  
"Never! I will never, ever, serve you!" he yelled.  
"Then you will suffer."  
"Better than serving a git like you!"  
"Avada Kedavra!"  
A thump on the ground, and Quinn was dead.  
  
"Avada Kedavra!" Zach heard it all from the bathroom.  
"Oh, shoot," he murmured. Zach pulled out his wand quietly, and without a sound he vanished from the bathroom. Just moments later, Voldemort arrived at the spot Zach had just apparated from.   


~~~  


A small thud sounded from the living room of the Lupin house.  
"What was that?" Gemma asked Olivia.  
"I don't know. The weather's too nasty for prowlers."  
"Maybe it's the boys," Gemma said. She lifted Claire from her lap (she had fallen asleep there nearly an hour ago), and placed her on the couch next to Mary Graham. Will was playing cards with Holly, and Becky was making sure that neither of the two cheated. Gemma and Olivia tiptoed out to the living room.  
"Zach!" Olivia cried.  
"Livvy, I am lucky to be able to see you again!"  
"What are you talking about? Where's Quinn?"  
"Dead! Voldemort....... Came......... Avada Kedavra....... Apparated............ Wants us next!" Zach Lupin passed out without another word. Olivia and Gemma stared at each other. The reality hadn't quite hit them yet, but it would soon enough.   
Weeks went by, and Gemma refused to speak to or see the Lupin's. Finally, Olivia was able to speak to her.  
Gemma was still devastated.  
"Go away!" she yelled when Olivia came in.  
"Gemma, you're my best friend, I can't just leave you in pain like this," Olivia said quietly.  
"You only cause me more pain! I never want to see you again! Just leave me alone, won't you?" Olivia stood there in shock.  
"You don't mean that!" she said.   
"Leave! You heard me! Go away!" Gemma and Olivia never spoke again after she left that day, but before she left, Olivia had said, "I'm sorry."  
But the Lupin's respected Gemma's wishes, and they never attempted contact again.  
  
~~Three Years Later~~  
  
"Claire......... Bear!" Mary Graham said, and giggled. The child was only four years old.  
The child's mother did not smile. Those simple words brought her so much pain it was unbearable. Rather than smile, she frowned.  
"Zach, do you think she remembers her?"  
"Livvy, she's a four year old that's watching television. It's no need for alarm."  
"Zach, Gemma made it clear she didn't want us having anything to do with her. She was so, so sad when Quinn died........ It was too much for her. If Mary Graham remembers Claire, there may be trouble."   
"Claire won't remember Mary Graham, Livvy, not a chance. Holly was four........ She'll have moved on. Will was seven, and now he's ten........ I remember when I was ten all I cared about was Quidditch. As for Becky, she'll remember it, that horrible night when we last saw each other, but she'll keep quiet because it's what her mother wants."  
"Tell me, Daddy, tell me!"  
"Mary Graham, it's late. Time for bed, sweetie." It wasn't that late, for the sun was still just setting, but the child was used to this early bed time.  
The child whined. She argued, saying she needed to be awake late tonight. The mother won, and tucked the small girl into her bed. She pulled the curtains down, and the setting sun was out of sight.  
As Olivia closed the door to Mary Graham's room, she felt a wave of dread over her, like darkness was lurking in the house.  
Olivia shook her head. No, no darkness could follow her. Olivia had suffered enough, losing her best friend, and living in fear of her own life...........................  
  
A noise crackled around the little girl that was tucked in her bed. The girl coughed. Why was she coughing? She wasn't sick.  
The child sat up in her bed and opened her eyes. She could barely see anything because there was too much smoke.  
'Fire!' the alarmed little girl thought instantly. Her small body quivered with fear.  
"Mommy!" cried the helpless little girl, "Mommy, mommy!"  
"Mommy, I smell fire!"  
"Oh, no. Mary Graham, mommy's coming." Her voice soothed the young girl. She relaxed as her mother ran into her bedroom.  
"Mary Graham, we're going to have to climb out the window."  
"Away from the fire?" I asked.  
"Yes. Now be a good girl and go first.  
"No, mommy, you go."  
"No, Mary Graham. You must go first." So she did. She climbed onto the windowsill, then hesitated.  
"It's too high. I can't."  
"You can!" my mother assured me.  
"Mommy, I'm scared."  
"I know you are, Mary Graham, but it's all going to be okay."  
"Promise?"  
"Yes, darling."  
"But what about you?"  
"I'll be fine. Just go!  
"But......."  
"GO!" The fire raged as she climbed out the window. Mary Graham ran safely out of harms way, and found her father, waiting next to many fire fighters.   
The night was cold, and the roaring fire cast an eerie glow on Zach Lupin's face. They watched the burning house in silence, hoping desperately that Olivia would come out any second now. But instead from within the flames came a high, cruel laugh.  
"Voldemort," Zach whispered, tears streaming down his face now.  
They waited quietly for a few more minutes before Mary Graham finally spoke.  
"Where's Mommy, Dad? She is okay, isn't she? Everything's going to be okay, right?" Zach tried to think of something comforting to tell the child, but there was nothing to say.  
"No, baby, nothing is gonna be okay ever again."  
"Why not?" The child was crying.  
"Because there is an evil in the world, an evil that will forever haunt our family until there are no longer any Lupin's left. He started that fire, and in those flames he killed your mother."   
"Mommy's dead?"   
"Baby, if she weren't, she'd be out by now."  
"When will she come back?"   
"Of course. You don't understand."   
"I do! I understand! But she'll be back, she can't just leave us!"   
"She wouldn't have left us by choice. It's just the way thing's are, baby. Your mother was one of the one's Voldemort felt needed to go, so he got rid of her. But we'll be all right, M. G., we'll make the best of what we've got."   
"NO! She's fine, she's alive, she has to be, she has to be!"   
"Mary Graham.........." Zach whispered, "You're all I've got left. I love you so much."   
All the little girl could say was, "Mommy."  



	2. A Light In The Darkness

Mirrors Chapter 2 A Light In The Darkness  
By Angelina Johnson  
BlewGoo2@aol.com  
Angst/Dark Fic  
Descendants of Harry and Co.  
PoA  
PG  
Summary- In a fight for good and evil, someone must lose. What will the future hold for those affected?  
Disclaimer: This story is based on characters and situations created and owned by JK Rowling, various publishers including but not limited to Bloomsbury Books, Scholastic Books and Raincoast Books, and Warner Bros., Inc. No money is being made and no copyright or trademark infringement is intended.  
  
Watching the last flame go out at the Lupin house, Voldemort apparated from his hiding spot. He had killed one Lupin and one Black- he still had many more to do away with. Right now, however, Voldemort knew where he was headed.   
He had kept track of the woman, of her whole family. He knew what was to come and what he wanted to do. Maybe, things would go as planned. Maybe. He knew he could be making a huge mistake, that the ancestor was special, that it could not be harmed by him. It was a risk worth taking, though. How useful this one would be. Stronger than the ones before, no doubt. The strongest link, as opposed to the weakest.   
He knew this would be a great challenge, but Lord Voldemort had had challenges before. What had the fire been? Killing a Lupin, killing a Black- those were great challenges. But this child that was to be born on this night was special, and if it would serve him, the possibilities were endless.  
He arrived at his destination. He slammed into the window, breaking it.   
"My Lord. I knew you would come." The words were spoken by a short, fat ghost.   
"Wormtail. Still hanging around, are you? What a nuisance you are. Please, leave me. If I have use of you, I will summon you."   
"Yes, My Lord. O-o-of course, My Lord," the slimeball servant stuttered.  
"If this child surrenders to me, the world will be mine!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!" He laughed evilly, but Wormtail frowned.  
"Not n-n-necessarily, M-my Lord." His voice squeaked, andhe shuddered under his master's gaze.  
"I told you to leave, did I not?" The Dark Lord was about to inflict pain that would have left the servant moaning, as he had done in the old days, but the remembered that Wormtail was long dead, and that pain was not felt by ghosts. He descended into the room where the small child lay.  
"'Born on the night of a horrible tragedy will come a child unlike any other before. The strength of this child can change the entire world, but the powers of the one can be used for evil as well as good, as they will be a descendent of those who have served evil'."  
He picked up the little girl whose ancestor had been so incompetent, and so afraid. The girl that shrieked in his arm, the newborn little baby, was different. She would be strong. Yet the Dark Lord knew that the girl would fight him, and go against him, and if he failed to bring her to his side, then it could mean the end of him.  
"Welcome to the world of Lord Voldemort, Chelsea."   
  
The baby girl began to wail after the evil man holding her spoke. The doctor's all around ignored it. They figured that all babies cry, and these men and women were not the most efficient in the world.  
The doctor's were relieved when the baby stopped, but soon the hour had passed and they went to check on the babies. A tall, blond man by the name of Paul was to check on Chelsea Pettigrew, but there was a rude awakening for the man, because the crib of Chelsea Pettigrew was empty. He gathered the other doctor's.  
"One of the children is missing."  
"What? Which one?" gasped a short brunette woman.  
"Chelsea Pettigrew."   
"We must search everywhere. Search the halls, search to make sure she's not in someone elses room, see if she's with her mother, but don't panic Anna, just act like you're checking to see how she is, search in closets, boxes, everywhere. We must find that baby."  
The baby was nowhere to be found. They searched everywhere possible, but it appeared that Chelsea Pettigrew had simply vanished into thin air. The doctors were all baffled, and one of them would be the unlucky one, the one that had to break the news to Anna Pettigrew that her baby had vanished.  
A short, fat ghost snickered as he watched the doctors scurry around, for he knew where his great-great grand daughter was.  
Anna Pettigrew, the proud mother, was horrified when she learned that her beautiful baby girl had disappeared.   
"Disappeared? How could this happen? My baby girl is gone!"  
"I'm sorry, ma'am, we searched everywhere, she just simply vanished."  
"I'll kill you! How could you let this happen? Chelsea? Chelsea!" she yelled as loud as she could, wailing,  
She did not know how awful the place her baby was in was.  
Thousands of miles away, Chelsea was in an abandoned castle that had, at one time in history, been Beauxbatons School of Magic. The once enchanting castle was now broken down, the shining white walls all mildewed and cracked. Some rooms had already begun to fall, and there were broken down beams everywhere. Cracked and shattered glass was everywhere, and the magic had all been removed from the castle. This place was now used as a hideout for Lord Voldemort. Here he would raise Chelsea, the little girl who would save, or possibly destroy, the Dark Lord.  
  
Four Years Later  
  
"Ah, Chelsea. There you are. Do you remember what I told you yesterday? That you are special?"  
"Of course, Voldemort."  
"Lord Voldemort, little one, and I suggest that you serve me."  
"I may be little, but I know wrong from right. I'm smarter than you think, and I say NO!"  
Every day, for the next year, the dark lord asked the small child the same question.  
"Will you serve me?" Every day, he got the same answer.  
"No."  
Finally, on her fifth birthday, the powers began to come. Chelsea began to get ideas that required magic which she had. She understood that she was powerful. In the castle, there were books, and Chelsea had taught herself to read very well. By reading, she had learned of the prophecies, and, from the ghost that Voldemort called Wormtail, she had learned many things. She had learned that Voldemort had great expectations of her, that he expected her to help him bring about the end of the world as she knew it. She finally understood why he wished for her to serve him, and the evil she had felt all along, the evil that came off of Voldemort, only grew stronger. She hated him more with each plea he gave, and all she wanted was to return home, to see her mother. She wanted to learn, though, and she learned from Wormtail. Wormtail told her all about Voldemort, back when he had just gained power. He told her what seemed like fairytales, stories about a boy named Harry Potter, and stories of other Potter's, and of a family called the Lupin's, and another, the Black's. Chelsea soon understood that these were no fairytales, and that these things were real, and she hated Voldemort yet again for what he had done to those poor families.   
One day, he told her about her birth. He told her about the fire, and how his master had come straight and kidnapped her. He told her that the doctors were frantic and that they searched everywhere, but it was no use, for she had simply vanished. It was truly their incompitence that had helped Voldemort to make a run for it with Chelsea. Wormtail told her about how her mother had screamed bloody murder when they told her her daughter was gone, and Chlesea wished she could be with her mother right now, instead of in the dingy castle with only the dark lord and Wormtail to talk to.   
She talked to Wormtail often, nearly everyday. He told her useful things, things that would help her very much, but on this particular day, he gave her what she needed to escape.  
"What's your real name?" she asked Wormtail one day. Wormtail looked at her, and shook his head.  
"I can't tell."  
"Oh, please!" she said.  
"Fine. It's Peter."  
"Peter what?"  
"I can't tell you," he said quietly.  
"Peter WHAT?" she said, louder and with more force. Sparks shot.  
"Stop! Stop! Peter Pettigrew. My name's Peter Pettigrew. And Chelsea- your sparks don't hurt me, love. I'm a ghost. I just don't want my master to see what you're capable of." Chelsea gasped.  
"Am I related to you?"  
"Yes. Yes, you are. You're my great-great granddaughter."  
"The prophecy says........"  
"Yes, I know what the prophecy says. The prophecy says I'm evil. That I served a dark one, that I did bad things."  
"Is it true?" she asked, her eyes growing very wide.  
"Yes. I handed the Potter's to my master, and they died because of me. I caused the death of an innocent man, a man that was once my friend."  
"Sirius Black? What he did was really what you did?"  
"Yes. You're a very smart girl, Chelsea. Your brains will get you out of here, you just have to figure it out for yourself."  
Chelsea thought about all that had been said. That man was evil, yet he had helped her.......... And he was related to her. Chelsea was very confused, but when her mind cleared, she thought about the sparks. And she knew they were the key.  
She had power. Great power. Voldemort feared her, a little girl. Anything she wanted was hers.  
All she had to do was go to him, propose that she leave, and if he didn't let her, too bad, the sparks would fly. The bad man would have no choice but to send her back to her mother, as she wanted. Chelsea smirked, and she dreamed of going home, until finally, she was ready to put her plan into action.  
"I wish to leave."  
"No," the dark lord told the chosen child.  
"I SAID I WISH TO LEAVE!" Sparks came from the child, as she had planned. Powerful explosions began hitting Voldemort.  
"Stop it! Stop causing this right now, you little brat. You are no threat, only a nuisance!"  
"You're a liar! I know what you told me, and I understand. Like I said, I may be little, but I KNOW! I UNDERSTAND! You're scared. You're scared because I'm more powerful than you."  
"Leave, then." Chelsea stood frozen.  
"What?"  
"Leave, I said. LEAVE, you little brat. Leave. You know you want to. You know you won't die. I know that I can not control you, and it was a matter of time before you defied me. But know this- if you leave, we will meet again, Chelsea. That is a promise. We will meet again. We will."   
  
END  
  
  
  



	3. The Path To Happiness

**Title: **Mirrors (3/13)  
  
**Author: **Angelina Johnson  
  
**E-Mail: **BlewGoo2@aol.com  
  
**Category/House: **Angst/Darkfic  
  
**Keywords: ** Descendants of Harry and Co.  
  
**Spoilers: **All  
  
**Rating: **PG  
  
**Summary:** In a fight for good and evil, someone must lose. What will the future hold for those affected?  
  
**Disclaimer:** This story is based on characters and situations created and owned by JK Rowling, various publishers including but not limited to Bloomsbury Books, Scholastic Books and Raincoast Books, and Warner Bros., Inc. No money is being made and no copyright or trademark infringement is intended.   
  
  
A child's shadow cast across the room. The shadow came from a little girl sitting in the window, watching the sunset. The girl saw shades of red, orange, yellow, and pink in as they faded into blue and purple. There she sat, reflecting on her past and dreaming about her future.  
  
But this child's reflections were not happy, and her dream's of the future were not bright. It was as though a dark shadow would forevever loom over her forever, making her life miserable.  
  
She remembered that promise, that girl, that storm, that night. She remembered all of it, and all of it brought pain, and oh, how she wished she could forget it all.  
  
But that nine year old girl would not, could not, forget those horrible things that made her suffer.  
  
Claire Black would remember.  
  
Earlier that day, her pappa had told the little girl a story. She had only been two, but she remembered the story. It had been about a man named Sirius Black. That man was her great-great grandfather. He had been sent to a bad place for no reason, and a bad thing had happened to him. He had been sent to wizard prison, and his soul had been sucked out. Claire's pappa had asked her to do something that all of the Black's had been trying to do for ages- clear the good name of Black. Claire had promised that she would give it her best shot, and she was determined to keep that goal at all costs.  
  
Then pappa had left, promising to be home soon, and the girl had come over. The girl, who her mother had forbidden to ever see her again. The girl, who had been with her on that night, during that storm.  
  
The storm was horrible, so bad that Muggle weathermen said it was the worst storm to hit England in nearly a hundred years.  
  
The storm may have been horrible, but the events that changed the Black family forever were worse, if possible, than that horrid storm.  
  
For on the night of August 29, 2217, an evil that had existed for over two-hundred years struck the Black family, and Quinn Black had been killed.  
  
That had been a horrible night. She may have been two, but she understood what her mother meant when she was told, "Pappa's gone forever, Claire Bear. He's dead." Gemma Black had been in tears as she said this, and Claire understood that tears meant bad things. But that was not the only bad thing, for that was the last night that Claire Black would see her best friend, Mary Graham Lupin.  
  
Claire sat in her window, seven years later, watching the sun set, tears running down her eyes. She had no friends, and rarely left her house. Exactly seven years ago, her father had died, and the pain was yet to leave her. The child wanted only to be left in peace.  
  
Just then, Claire's six-nearly-seven-and-proud-of-it brother, Parker Black, entered her room, and yelled, "Claire, it's time for dinner, you deaf monkey!" Claire ignored her brother, continuing to look out the window.  
  
"Claire Eliza Black, we have been screaming at you for five minutes, now get your butt downstairs and eat! Come on, you know this may be the last meal we eat at home together before Becky gets married." Claire finally turned around to face Parker, and he looked at her apoligetically when he saw the tears in her eyes. He suddenly had a knowing look on his face, and finally he spoke.  
  
"It's today, isn't it? Trust you to be the one to remember." Parker sighed, realizing the signifigance of this day, and sat down next to his big sister. He hugged her gently, and Claire looked at her younger brother sadly. Parker was he favorite of her siblings, Will and Becky, the half-siblings, included. Maybe it was because they were the one's who you could honestly say were "Quinn Black's kids." Will and Becky didn't understand Claire the way her true brother and sister did, but Holly found that she preferred to ignore Claire and Parker. Parker and Claire could have been twins, they were the same height, had the same brown eyes, and the same tangled mass of black hair.  
  
Parker hadn't even been born when her father had died, yet Claire knew when she loooked in Parker's eyes that she wasn't the only one who needed him in their life.  
  
"Are you hungry? I'm not. I don't care if it's Becky's last meal before she becomes Becky Davidson. I've got something more important to do," Parker said, looking at Claire.  
  
"PARKER! CLAIRE!" Gemma Black's scream tore angrily through the house. Claire looked back at the setting sun, and then at Parker.  
  
"What have you got in mind?" Claire asked.  
  
"C'mon," Parker said, and he slid open the window. He jumped down and landed perfectly on his feet, two stories below.  
  
Two hundred miles away, another nine year old was thinking of the last time she had done the same thing.  
  
There had been a fire crackling around her, and a voice, a voice that she dreamt of each night, was telling her that she must jump out and escape.  
  
That voice had told her those words five years ago. The woman who had said them was long gone from this world, but her memory lived on through her daughter.  
  
Mary Graham Lupin shook her head, and a strand of her light-brown hair fell out of her ponytail and into her blue-gray eyes. Angrily, she pushed it behind her ear.  
  
She glanced backwards at a picture. There was a beautiful woman smiling, holding a little baby in her arms.   
  
That little baby was Mary Graham herself, and the woman was her mother, Olivia, who had died in a fire.  
  
It would have been one thing if the fire had been an accident, something caused by drought, or by a candle falling over, or by an oven, but the fire had been the killing tool of Lord Voldemort, who had haunted not only her own past and present, but that of her family two-hundred years gone.  
  
Her great-grandfather Remus had lost one best friend to Voldemort, and another may as well have been lost to Voldemort. Now, two hundred years later, her mother had been killed. It didn't seem fair.  
  
Sighing, Mary Graham flounced on her bed with all her might, wanting the world to suffer as she did, feel the pain she felt, live what she had lived through, but all she heard was a stupid creak. The old house always creaked, and her father always told her to look for the board that was making the noise so that it could be fixed, so she pushed her rolling bed out of the way and began to step on the boards. None creaked.  
  
The very last board she stepped on gave a huge moan, and Mary Graham fell to her knees beside it. She poked at it, and then saw it was so loose she could lift it up.  
  
She did.  
  
Mary Graham gasped and stepped back. In the tiny hole were hundreds of papers, all in the same handwriting.  
  
She picked one up and saw the signature at the bottom.  
  
Remus Lupin.  
  


~~~  
  


Claire jumped from the window, and landed on her bum. Parker smiled lightly and pulled her to her feet.  
  
"Where are we going, Park?" she murmured, trying to make sure that her mother, sister, and half siblings didn't hear. She knew that her mother was in the house, yelling for them, probably about to head upstairs to see what the terrible twosome was up to.  
  
"Don't ask, just run," Parker said, and the children set off at a sprint, their wild black hair flowing behind them.  
  
They reached the patch of woods that lay about a hundred feet from the Black's back porch, and finally slowed.  
  
"Where are we going?"  
  
"It's not far, just come on," Parker said, and he pulled Claire with him. They walked a little further, and Parker ordered that she close her eyes.  
  
"Fine," Claire grumbled, and Parker held his hand over her eyes, taking her own hand in his other one. He gave a little tug, and she stumbled blindly by his side.  
  
"All right, open," Parker said, and Claire did.  
  
"Oh my................" Claire murmured, and stared around her. There was a little pool, and cascading gently into it was a waterfall. It wasn't very big, but it was very pretty. Next to the pool was a flat rock, and Claire went over to inspect it more closely. Carved into the face of the stone were two moss-covered names. She rubbed her hand on it, and the green faded away just enough so that she could see the names inscribed in it. The first said Gemma. The second said Quinn.  
  
Claire looked more closely at it, and saw that the two names were inside of a carefully chiseled heart.  
  
"Park, what is this place?" Claire asked.  
  
"Huh? Oh- it's where Dad proposed to Mum."  
  
"I never knew it was here. Mum never told me. How did you find out?"  
  
"Well, I was running around, exploring, off on one adventure or another, you know me, when I found it, and I didn't want to ask Mum about it, because if she went to the trouble of not mentioning it she obviously didn't want us to know about it, so I just forgot about it, but when Mum was gone one day, I went into her room and found all these pictures of her and Dad there. I flipped over the picture, and it had written on it the date, and a caption that said 'Proposal.' I just assumed, you know?"  
  
"Wow."  
  
"Beautiful, right?"  
  
"No, actually I was just thinking about how amazingly smart you are for a six year old," Claire said, and she forced a smile. So did Parker.  
  
They sat down on the rock and stared at the water in silence.  
  
"Park?" Claire said quietly, and turned to him.  
  
"Yeah, Claire?"  
  
Staring at the pink sky that faded into purple, and then glancing at the glowing sun as it set in the sky, Claire Black murmured, "I don't want to leave."  
  
**End Chapter 3**  
  
Be on the lookout for Chapter 4, coming soon.  
  
"Master, the foolish girl wishes to try and clear Black's name."   
  
"Fool! What matter is that to me! Why do you disobey me?"   
  
"I haven't disobeyed you, master!" the servant cried.   
  
"You are too friendly with them!"   
  
"I need them to trust me...... So I can get the information needed out of them............." The boy shuddered. He was afraid of his master, very much afraid of him.   
  
  


  
  
The Chapter/Fic has now ended  


  


  
  
  



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